JPH02111377A - Hollow system type humidifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a channel ring of water or gas further decreasing a pressure drop restricting a water or gas route by a warp and a hollow thread by arranging in specific density the hollow thread and the warp forming a reed screen-shaped hollow thread sheet and winding it in a specific condition in a roll shape to be housed in a cylindrical housing. CONSTITUTION:In the case of hollow thread density F per unit length in the lengthwise direction of a hollow thread serving as a warp and hollow thread mean density I in the radial direction, as the density F and/or I increases, simultaneously a pressure drop of water or gas increases, and as the ratio I/F exceeds the above described range, simultaneously penetrating power of steam decreases. Accordingly, in order to realize a device having high penetrating power of steam with a low pressure drop, a relation where 10<8>/(3.50XD)<2=FXI<10<8>/(0.931XD)<2>, 0.2<=I/F<=2.0 is provided. When the relation FXI is smaller than this range, the penetrating power of steam is too low. On the contrary, when the relation FXI is not less than this range, the pressure drop increases too large. While, when the ratio I/F is smaller than 0.2 or larger than 5.0, the penetrating power of steam is to low. In this invention, in whichever one of the inside or outside of the hollow thread gas may be allowed to flow, but when the pressure drop is considered, the gas is preferable to be allowed to flow in the outside of the hollow thread.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention humidifies air or a gas such as oxygen.

The present invention relates to a humidifier for supplying this to a patient or a healthy person, and in particular to a humidifier suitable for humidifying the air breathed by a patient during artificial respiration.

(Conventional technology) In the case of artificial respiration of a patient using intubation or autonomous respiration of a patient with a tracheostomy, the respiratory air directly reaches the bronchi without passing through the nose-neck and pharyngeal cavities. endangering epithelial function. To avoid this danger, a humidifier is used to humidify the relative humidity of intake air to as close to 100% as possible.

Conventionally, such humidifiers have been used to flow gas over a wooden surface and/or through a reservoir containing saturated moisture-absorbing paper (such as Japanese Patent Publication No. 48-420), or to disperse gas into small bubbles that permeate through water. method (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-139
671, etc.), and a method of humidifying through a hollow fiber membrane (Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-47548, etc.) are known.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in a type of humidifier in which water and gas are in direct contact, the gas flow rate fluctuates because gas equivalent to the amount of evaporated water remains in the container. Furthermore, there is a risk that gases such as bacteria contained in the water may be carried into the body, and even if the evaporation surface is formed into a pleated shape to expand the evaporation surface, a large evaporation chamber is required, which increases the size of the entire device. 111
'I have a topic.

Bubble-type humidifiers have low humidification efficiency because it is difficult to disperse gas into small puzzles. on the other hand.

A type of humidifier that humidifies through a hollow fiber membrane has a regulated gas flow path, so there is no fluctuation in the gas flow rate.It is also easy to expand the evaporation area, and it is possible to use a hollow fiber membrane that does not allow bacteria to pass through. When used, it has the advantage of preventing bacteria from entering the gas. However, since it is difficult to uniformly distribute gas or water inside and outside the hollow fiber, there is a problem that insufficient humidification is likely to occur due to channeling of gas or water. To provide a compact humidifier with low pressure loss.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present inventors focused on a hollow fiber humidifier that has no fluctuation in gas flow rate and can prevent bacteria from entering17. Alternatively, the present invention was arrived at as a result of intensive studies to eliminate water channeling.

That is, the present invention accommodates a spiral hollow fiber sheet wound into a roll in a cylindrical housing having an inlet and an outlet for water or gas, and allows the hollow fibers to be opened at both ends. - Supporting both ends of the housing with a partition wall and providing a first head cover having an inlet for gas or water communicating with the inside of the hollow fiber at -4 of the housing,
and a hollow fiber type humidifier having a second head cover having a gas or water outlet communicating with the inside of the hollow fiber at the other end of the housing, wherein the spiral hollow fiber sheet is one or more. A bundle of hollow fibers is connected by a warp, and the outer diameter of the single hollow fiber or bundle of hollow fibers is D (μ), 1
The density of warp yarns that form a book hollow fiber or a bundle of multiple hollow fibers in a spiral shape is W (numbers/hundred).

The density of one hollow fiber or a bundle of hollow fibers per unit length of a hollow fiber sheet formed in a spiral shape is F (filters/cm
), and the average density of one hollow fiber or a bundle of multiple hollow fibers per unit length in the radial direction is expressed as .

0.1≦W≦2.0 0.2≦I/F≦2.0 108/(3,50X D)2≦Fx I<108
This hollow fiber humidifier is characterized by having the following relationship: /(0,931×D)2.

(Function) In the hollow fiber humidifier of the present invention, a spiral hollow fiber sheet formed of hollow fibers and warp fibers arranged at a specific density is wound into a roll under specific conditions and housed in a cylindrical nozzle. By doing so, the water or gas path is regulated by the warp fibers and the hollow fibers, so that water or gas channeling can be prevented and pressure loss can be reduced.

(Example) Next, an example of the hollow fiber humidifier of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of the hollow fiber humidifier of the present invention. A spiral hollow fiber sheet, for example 50, is wound into a roll as shown in FIG.
- About 5,000 hollow fibers 4 are accommodated. The hollow fibers are supported in a liquid-tight manner by resin partitions 5.5' which close both ends of the housing so that both ends thereof are open.

The lower side wall of the housing is provided with a water or gas inlet 2 communicating with the space formed by the hollow fiber and the housing, and the upper side wall of the housing is provided with a water or gas outlet 3. Also, one end of the housing 1 has a first gas or water inlet 6 which is serially connected to the inside of the hollow fiber.
The other end of the housing l is covered with a head cover 9 that protects the lower part of the water outlet from which the gas/ζ is connected to the inside of the hollow fiber.

The hollow fibers formed in a screen shape are not particularly limited as long as they are permeable to water vapor and impermeable to water. ! Hydrophobic hollow fibers made of polyester, polytetrafluoroethylene, or polysulfone, hydrophilic hollow fibers made of ethylene-vinyl alcohol, regenerated cellulose, etc. are used. Among these, hollow fibers made of polysulfone are preferable because even if the membrane thickness is thin, the original hollow fibers are less likely to be crushed or deformed.

The outer diameter CD of the hollow fiber is 200 to 10oOoμ, and the membrane pressure is 3
~1000μ. If the outer diameter or film thickness is too large, the threads will break or break when forming the screen, and if the product is larger than 1, on the other hand, it will be difficult to achieve compactness as a device. Generally, hollow fibers having an outer diameter (D) of 500 to 5,000 .mu.m and a membrane thickness of 10 to 1,000 .mu.m are preferably used.

The effective diameter of the hollow fibers is usually 3 to 30 cm. If the effective length is smaller than this, the cutting loss of the hollow fiber during the assembly process of the device will be excessive, resulting in poor economic efficiency.On the other hand, if the effective length is larger than this, it will be difficult to achieve compactness as a device.

In the present invention, a bundle of one or more hollow fibers is formed into a spiral shape using warp threads as a unit weft thread. When a bundle of a plurality of hollow fibers is formed in a spiral shape, a bundle of 35 or less hollow fibers, preferably 24 or less hollow fibers is used. A bundle of 35 or more hollow fibers is not preferred because each hollow fiber in one bundle cannot make sufficient contact with water or gas. Usually, a blind-like sheet is formed using each hollow fiber as a weft thread. In this case, not only is almost 100% of the surface area of each hollow fiber used for water vapor transmission, but also water or gas is divided in microscopic units by the small, almost square, uniform slits formed by the vertical and horizontal fibers. Perhaps because the mixing is extremely efficient, unexpectedly high humidification efficiency can be achieved with a small membrane area.
Pressure loss is also small.0 To form the hollow fibers into a spiral shape using the warp threads, the hollow fibers may be braided using the warp threads, or the warp threads may be bonded to the hollow fibers. The method of braiding hollow fibers with warp threads is preferred because it allows easy production of a spiral hollow fiber sheet. Any weaving method can be used to braid the hollow fibers in a spiral shape with the warp threads, but as shown in Fig. 2(a),
Grass #) shown in (b) ↓ It is preferable to fix each hollow fiber one by one vertically as shown in the figure. By fixing each hollow fiber with the warp threads in this way, it is possible to prevent the hollow fibers from shifting during use, and it is possible to always maintain a constant gap between adjacent hollow fibers.

The material of the warp threads forming the hollow fibers used in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has appropriate softness and mechanical strength, but examples include polyester, polyamide, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyarylate, and polyvinyl alcohol. , polyurethane, etc. are used. 'Also, the type of warp yarn may be spun yarn, filament yarn, or processed yarn, and can be used depending on the purpose. Furthermore, the thickness of the warp is about 15 to about 10
00 denier, preferably from about 15 to about 1000 denier.

When using the humidifier of the present invention for medical purposes, the use of oil on the warp threads should be avoided as much as possible, but if it is unavoidable to use it when forming it into a spiral shape, use oil that has been confirmed to be safe. Alternatively, it is necessary to use an oil agent that can be washed and removed.

The density W (number/bacterium) of the warp fibers that form one hollow fiber or a bundle of multiple hollow fibers in a spiral shape distributes water or gas uniformly on the membrane surface, and has high water vapor permeability. This is also an important requirement for preventing channeling of water or gas, and it is necessary to satisfy the condition 0.2≦W≦2.0.

That is, when the warp density W is smaller than 0.2,
Since the length of the hollow fibers that fit between the warp yarns is long, the hollow fibers tend to sag between the warp yarns. As a result, it is difficult to regulate the hollow fibers to be arranged in parallel at substantially constant intervals, the distribution density of the hollow fibers is uneven, and when used as a device, water or gas may cause slack in the hollow fibers. High water vapor permeability cannot be achieved because the water flows in sparse areas with a lot of water. When the density W of the warp yarns is as large as 2.0 υ, the hollow fibers are regulated in parallel at extremely uniform intervals, and as a result, the flow rate flowing through the gaps between the hollow fibers is made uniform.

However, as the warp density increases.

The contact area between the warp and hollow fibers increases, the contact area between the hollow fibers and water or gas (effective membrane area) decreases, and water or gas does not easily flow through the contact area (texture) between the warp and hollow fibers. A decrease in water vapor permeability and an increase in pressure drop occur.

In addition, the hollow fiber density per unit length in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fibers (warp fibers) is F (numbers/σ), and the average density of hollow fibers in the radial direction (
The present inventors' experiments show that as F and/or F increase, the pressure loss of water or gas simultaneously increases, and as I/F exceeds the above range, Water vapor permeability decreases. Therefore, in order to realize a device with low pressure drop and high water vapor permeability, 1 o8/(a, 5 o x D)2≦FX I<
It is necessary that the following relationship exists: 108/(0,931×D)20.2≦I/F≦2.0.

If FxI is smaller than this range, the water vapor permeability will be too low, and if FxI is larger than this range, the pressure loss will be too large. Moreover, if I/F is smaller than 0.2 or larger than 0, the water vapor permeability is too low.

In the present invention, the gas may flow either inside or outside the hollow fiber, but considering pressure loss, it can be used to provide a sense of warmth.

Experimental Example 1 Polysulfone hollow fibers each having an outer diameter of 1500 μm and an inner diameter of 1200 μm were arranged so that the density (F) in the length direction was 3 fibers/−. On the other hand, using 1800 denier cotton as the warp, the density (W) is 1 thread/c! Km of hollow fibers were arranged in a spiral shape so that n was formed. This blind-like hollow fiber sheet was wound into a roll and housed in a cylindrical housing having an inner diameter of 34 m. At this time, I/F was 1.0 and FxI was 16.

On the other hand, a separate device was created in which a hollow fiber bundle that was not formed in a spiral shape was housed in a nozzle. In the above two types of devices, the effective length of the hollow fiber is 6 crn, and the effective membrane area is 215 d.
Met.

Next, 25℃, 30RH% was applied to the outside of the hollow fibers of the two types of devices.
of air and 0.4 of 37℃ hot water inside the hollow fiber.
Table 1 shows the results of measuring the maximum flow rate at which outlet air of 37° C. and 100 RH% can be obtained by supplying the air at a rate of J/min.

In addition, in the following evaluation, the maximum gas flow rate is 10 j/m
in/100 aA or less or gas flow rate 100 ml
A pressure loss of 501aIHf when the pressure drop is 501aIHf is a practical problem and is outside the scope of the present invention.O Table 1 Experimental Example 2 Four types of blind-shaped hollows with different warp densities (W) A yarn sheet was prepared and stored in the same nozzle as in Experimental Example 1.
Table 2 shows the results of the same test as in Experimental Example 1.

Experimental Example 3 Using the same hollow fibers as in Experimental Example 1, the hollow fibers were arranged with different density (F) in the longitudinal direction, and the warp density (W) was 1 thread/knee as in Experimental Example 1. It was braided in a spiral shape. Then, when winding the spiral hollow fiber sheet into a roll, four types of rolled sheets with different average densities (I) per unit length in the radial direction were produced and housed in a cylindrical housing. A device similar to Experimental Example 1 was prepared. And experimental example 1
Table 3 shows the results of the same experiment as above.

5゛4 Lower System White Experimental Example 4 A blind-shaped hollow fiber sheet was formed using warp yarns in the same manner as in Experimental Example 1 by bundling a plurality of the hollow fibers shown in Experimental Example 1 and changing the arrangement of the hollow fibers. Then, the same apparatus as in Experimental Example 1 was prepared by changing the average density of hollow fibers per unit length in the radial direction (CI), and the same tests were conducted, and the results are shown in Table 4.

j'・'Bottom margin Experimental Example 5 Using a hollow fiber sheet in which each polysulfone porous hollow fiber with an outer diameter of 360 μm and an inner diameter of 280 μm was formed into a spiral shape using warp threads, each Four types of devices similar to Experimental Example 1 were created by changing the parameters, and Experimental Example 1
Table 5 shows the results of a similar test.

Margins below [Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the hollow fiber humidifier of the present invention, since the hollow fibers are regulated to be arranged in parallel at substantially constant intervals, water or gas is distributed uniformly onto the membrane surface. It can be distributed and exhibits excellent water vapor permeation performance. Furthermore, it has the advantage of being easy to manufacture, inexpensive, and compact.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the hollow fiber type humidifier of the present invention, and FIG.
Figures (a) and (b) are cross-sectional views of a hollow fiber sheet braided in a spiral shape, and the third figure is a perspective view showing a state in which the spiral hollow fiber sheet is wound into a roll. 1... Cylindrical housing 2... Water or gas inlet 3...
・・Water or gas outlet 4・・・・・Medium circulation 6 5.51・・・Partition wall 6・・・Gas or water inlet lower・・・・...Gas or water outlet 8...
...First Hellad Cover 9...Second Hellad Cover Patent Hemojin Ri Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A blind-shaped hollow fiber sheet wound into a roll is housed in a cylindrical housing having an inlet and an outlet for water or gas, and both ends of the hollow fiber are open. The housing is supported by partition walls that close both ends of the housing, and a first head cover having a gas or water inlet communicating with the inside of the hollow fiber is provided at one end of the housing, and a first head cover having a gas or water inlet communicating with the inside of the hollow fiber is provided at the other end of the housing. A hollow fiber type humidifier equipped with a second head cover having a communicating gas or water outlet, wherein the blind-shaped hollow fiber sheet is formed by connecting one or more bundles of hollow fibers with warp threads. , the outer diameter of the single hollow fiber or a bundle of hollow fibers is D (μ), and the density of the warp fibers forming the single hollow fiber or bundle of hollow fibers in a blind shape is W (numbers/
cm), the density of one hollow fiber or bundle of hollow fibers per unit length of the hollow fiber sheet formed in the shape of a curtain is F (filters/cm), one fiber per unit length in the radial direction. If the average density of a hollow fiber or a bundle of multiple hollow fibers is I (filters/cm), then 0.1≦W≦2.0 0.2≦I/F≦2.0 10^8/(3 .50×D)^2≦F×I<10^8/
A hollow fiber humidifier characterized by having the following relationship: (0.931×D)^2.